Chris Christie logged more travel miles this week with a trip to Tennessee, where he mixed it up with Republicans and a bride-to-be.

The New Jersey governor delivered the keynote address on Friday at the Statesmen Dinner in Nashville, Tennessee’s largest annual GOP gathering, but not everyone rolled out the welcome mat.

Republican state Rep. Andy Holt decried the decision to invite Christie on his Facebook page.

“Really, Tennessee GOP? Gov. Chris Christie? What an absolutely terrible idea!” Holt wrote. “Why would we want to cloud Tennessee’s conservative Republican Party with this questionable political figure?”

He wasn’t alone. Ben Cunningham, the president of the Nashville Tea Party, told MSNBC that he found the decision “extremely unfortunate.”

An organizer for the event told MSNBC that the opposition has been “minimal at best.”

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Christie also attended a grand opening for one of Sen. Lamar Alexander’s (R-TN) campaign offices, addressed a fundraiser in Memphis and spoke to voters with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) at a restaurant in downtown Nashville.

While mingling in the Music City, Christie evidently stumbled upon a bachelorette party. The Inquirer captured the scene.

As chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Christie has been a busy man as of late, embarking on recent trips to Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Maine all while the Bridgegate scandal continues to loom.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Kludt is a reporter for Talking Points Memo based in New York City, covering media and national affairs. Originally from South Dakota, Tom joined TPM as an intern in late-2011 and became a staff member during the 2012 election. He can be reached at tom@talkingpointsmemo.com.